At 6:59 p.m. on Saturday night, Mark Gomez, 15, paced nervously back and forth backstage in the Reber Center Auditorium at Lyons Township High School's North Campus.
Roughly 15 minutes before the first act was supposed to go onstage for the, he was wrangling crew members, organizing performers and making sure everything was on track for the show to begin. A few minutes later, Gomez joined his fellow concert organizers and the stage crew behind the curtain for a group huddle and a moment of reflection. The group broke with a clap and the signal was given that it was time for the first performers to head out on stage.
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